Football Headline

Saturday November 3, 2012Two Big Plays Were Enough for Gators Offense

GAINESVILLE,
Fla. -- Florida's offense was sputtering along like a '72
Volkswagen, relying heavily on punter Kyle Christy to keep Missouri pinned deep
in its own territory.

It
was early in the second half and the Gators not only trailed by a touchdown, they
had yet to score. They needed something to happen after Pop Saunders' 16-yard
punt return gave them the ball at Missouri's 40-yard line.

First
play: Mike Gillislee took a handoff from quarterback Jeff Driskel and gained
four years. Driskel departed and Trey Burton lined up at quarterback in the
wildcat formation on second down.

The
wildcat has worked big this season -- i.e. at Tennessee -- and had little
impact in last week's loss to Georgia.

Burton
took the shotgun snap, handed off to Omarius Hines, and 36 yards later the game
was tied.

The
Gators finally got the big play they needed.

"Motion
across, and he gave me the ball, and I saw the hole and I saw the end zone, so
I ran for it,'' Hines said. "It felt amazing. It's always good to put
points on the board."

Hines'
touchdown run was the first of two big second-half plays that lifted the Gators
to a 14-7 win over the Tigers.

The
other one came early in the fourth quarter following an interception by Matt
Elam.

This
time, it was Burton out -- he picked up eight yards out of the wildcat on
first-and-20 -- and Driskel in. Facing second-and-12 at Missouri's 45, Driskel
tossed a screen pass to Mike Gillislee.

Gillislee
caught the pass, trailed lead blocker Jon Halapio briefly, and then split a
pair of Missouri defenders on the way to what stood as the game-winning
touchdown.

"They
were pressuring a lot on second down,'' Muschamp said of Missouri's defense.
"They were in a lot of man coverage, and man coverage, if you can block
the defender who has the back, you've got a chance for a big one.

"That's
what happened."

The
45-yard reception was the longest of Gillislee's career and his first touchdown
receiving of the season.

Gillislee
added 68 yards rushing on 16 carries to help the No. 8-ranked Gators improve to
8-1, 7-1 in the SEC.

"Gilly
is a phenomenal running back,'' Hines said. "Whenever get gets the ball he
makes stuff happen. As soon as he caught it, I already knew."

Gillislee
offered a more practical approach to the go-ahead score that came with 13:32
left in the game.

"I'm
supposed to leave when the guard leaves,'' Gillislee said. "It was great
timing. I just saw daylight and I just burst."

The
two scoring plays covered 81 yards, which represented 29 percent of Florida's
276 yards of total offense. Florida managed only 11 first downs while Missouri
racked up 23 first downs and 335 yards of offense.

Still,
it was the Gators who walked off Florida Field victorious.

"We
didn't come out as fast as we wanted to,'' center Jon Harrison said. "[Our
defense] has been a luxury, but we do realize that as an offense, we need to
keep working to get to get to where we want to be. We're not there yet."

Muschamp
agreed with Harrison's assessment. While Driskel has managed the offense
effectively other than his four turnovers against Georgia, the Gators still
lack a big passing game.

That
is one area they will continue to develop. Driskel finished 12 of 23 for 106
yards and one touchdown Saturday. It was the fifth consecutive game that
Florida has not reached 200 yards passing.

"You
don't score any points in the first half is obviously disappointing,'' Muschamp
said. "There are just so many things that we need to continue [to
improve]. Consistency of our performance down in and down out, and
position-by-position is not there. That's where we've got to get some more
production.

"Moving
forward, we're going to continue to improve offensively and we're going to
become more explosive and more of what we want to be. But we're doing what we
have to do to win football games."